Increasing awareness of gastrointestinal side effects

Description: Jervoise Andreyev, MA, PhD, FRCP of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom talks about MASCC discussions focused on gastrointestinal (GI) side effects. Approximately 1-5% of patients die as a result of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea, which requires research to address this complication. Dr Andreyev highlights the importance of MASCC in raising awareness of GI side effects. Drugs affect the GI physiology and that causes symptoms. By treating the physiology it is then possible to improve the symptoms. This is an important conceptual advance in management of GI side effects. Recorded at the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and International Society of Ocular Oncology (ISOO) 2016 Annual Meeting on Supportive Care in Cancer held in Adelaide, Australia.